LeRoi and Cleo Lillywhite

Cabin where Cleopha Thomas Lillywhite was born.

Grandpa Thomas Gomer Thomas with his two daughters, Noami and Cleopha, ca. 1916.

Cleo’s sister Naomi, and Cleopha Thomas Lillywhite.

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite with his children: LeRoi Jr., Eyvonne (baby), Dahrl, and Dorothy.

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite. 17 years old.

Four generations: grandpa LeRoi Lillywhite, daughter Dahrl Long Lillywhite, grandson Johnny Lee standing in front of Dahrl, and great grandpa Lewis Lillywhite. Logan, Utah. January 1944.

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite at his ranch in Chino, California.

Lillywhite brothers: Jess, Roi, and Floyd.

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite and Cleopha Thomas Lillywite at home in Covina, California. August 1963.

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite in his swimming pool. Covina, California. August 1963.

LeRoi and Cleo in Hawaii.

Cleo’s granddaughter Susan Noorlander Green in dress her mother Dorothy Noorlander made for her Senior Prom, Davis, California, 1965. Cleo wearing the same dress at Kelli Rohner’s wedding reception, another granddaughter, in 1973.

The grandchildren of LeRoi Orwin and Cleopha Thomas Lillywhite.

The caption on the back of this picture reads “My Dad’s family.” Dad is probably LeRoi Lillywhite. If you have information regarding this picture, please contact me.

Life Stories of Cleopha Thomas
and LeRoi Lillywhite

by Cleo Lillywhite—January 1976 at age 79

I, Cleopha Thomas was born in a long cabin to Thomas Gomer Thomas and Joan Williams the 16th day of May 1897 in Malad, Idaho. I was the oldest of two daughters and one son. I was premature, born at seven months and weighed 1½ pounds. I was put on a warming oven in a little soup bowl, where I was wrapped in cotton and alcohol. No one thought I would live, and everyone was surprised when they found me still alive after several hours. I was so small that weeks after my birth, my father’s sister took her wedding ring off and slipped it over my hand and up to my shoulder.

Mother Died

When I was 8 years old, my mother died leaving father, myself, and my younger sister Naomi. My brother Lavern had died in surgery when he was about six months old of ether pneumonia, in Ogden, Utah. After mother died, Naomi and I went to live with my father’s sister, Aunt Annie, in Malad, Idaho. Aunt Annie’s husband, Uncle Lee, was a sheep herder and was gone much of the time. Aunt Annie’s children, Iona, Ruth, Amelia (Bill), Blanche and Don were just like our sisters and brother.

Teenage Years

When I was seventeen I entered a newspaper subscription contest for the Salt Lake Tribune. First prize for selling the most subscriptions was a new home. My family, not thinking I could win, didn’t help me very much. I lost by only 50 subscriptions. I was quite a saleswomen! However, I did win second prize which was a big car. My father wouldn’t let me keep the big car and I had to settle for a smaller Maxwell car and $700. With part of the prize money, I bought a sewing machine and yards of taffeta and chiffon to make Naomi a dress. She would never wear the dress and it made me so furious that I never sewed again until I had to mend clothes for my small children. I was considered quite spoiled and hard to handle at times when I was young, and this was one of the times I let my temper get the best of me.

I lived in Malad until I was seventeen with Aunt Annie, then I quit school and went to keep house in Tremonton, Utah for my father and Uncle Brig Williams, who was my mother’s brother. My car was very useful, as I could spend time between Aunt Annie’s and father’s place. The only thing I ever hit was a pig, but the stories told by my relatives say there wasn’t a chicken, cow, or sheep safe when I was driving through the area. A friend once called father and told him that I was going to “land” in jail. Father’s only comment was, “Good, then I’ll know where she is for awhile.”

LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite

On October 9, 1918, I married LeRoi Orwin Lillywhite in Ogden, Utah. Roi was born July 27, 1900 at Riverside, Utah, to Lewis Lillywhite and Matilda Orwin, and he was their first born son. He weighed around 12 pounds when he was born. Because of his large size, the greatest share of chores and responsibilities on the farm were his. He loved athletics and was very good at most of them, especially basketball. He was all-state guard on his High School basketball team for two years and he continued to be as active as possible in sports even after we were married. His sister Pearl and brother Jess, were born in Riverside also, then the family moved to Provo, Utah. Roi’s sister Alta was born in Provo and Roi was baptized in the Provo Tabernacle, which is still used today. His grandfather Orwin’s home was in Provo and Roi was very proud of his heritage. Then, his family moved to Garland to live on a farm, and his sister Erma and brother Floyd were born there.

We met while Roi was going to high school in Brigham City, Utah. He didn’t finish his fourth year of high school because we got married, and he worked to support his family. Roi worked for Globe Four Mills in Ogden just after we were married. From our first home in Ogden, which was an apartment above the Orpheum Theater on Washington Street, we moved to Garland to farm with Roi’s dad. I remember his parent’s farm in Garland, and we spent many Christmases there when our children were growing up.

Our Family

We had been married a little over a year when I went home to Malad at Aunt Annie’s to have our first child, Dahrl. The night she was born there was a terrible snow storm, and Roi who was coming by train to be with me, was snowed in until the day after she was born. Our first son, Roy Jr., was born in Garland, as were our other children Dorothy, Eyvonne and Verl. Verl was a very difficult birth, and we were never able to have any more children after he was born.

When Verl was little, we moved back to Ogden where Roi worked for Globe Mills and Safeway stores. This is where he got his start in the grocery business. We were then transferred to Kemmer, Wyoming for the summer months. We moved back to Ogden in the fall so we could put the children in school. Before school was out, we were transferred to Salt Lake as a manager, so we left Dahrl and Eyvonne with Aunt Sadie until school was out and then we went to Spanish Fork where Roi managed a store. I worked with him as a checker for a time. The depression was on it’s way and Roi always held two or three jobs to keep the family going and for the necessities. He worked as a carpenter during the day and in the Globe Mill at nights, and as a grocery clerk on Saturdays.

While we were in Spanish Fork, my father became very ill and we put him in the LDS Hospital. At this time, Safeway wanted Roi to go to Texas, but he wouldn’t go because of my father’s illness. Father died in Salt Lake and we took him to Malad to bury him by my mother and brother. After the funeral, we came back to Spanish Fork and found they had put in a new manager. We had made many friends in Spanish Fork, so we decided to stay and opened a small grocery store across the street from Safeway and put them out of business.

Logan Temple Sealing

Roi and I had a choice experience of going to the Logan Temple to be sealed together, and to have our first three children who were born, sealed to us on September 27, 1923.

Grandpa Lillywhite with his grandson Danny Noorlander. 1954. My all-time favorite picture of me with my best friend. He died in 1973 while I was serving in the Andes-Peru Mission.

Moving to California

In 1933 we lost the small grocery store we owned in Spanish Fork, because we let so many of our friends and customers have groceries on credit—being the depression—and they couldn’t pay us back. We did own a truck, however, that Roi used to truck between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. So we put all our worldly possessions in the truck: beds, a lamp, a rug, a rocking chair, an old stove, bedding and our five children (four in the back one in the front) and moved to the Los Angeles area in California. We had just enough money for gas and food for the trip.

When we got to Nevada, we stopped for gas at a trucking stop. The family dog, Big Boy, and Verl were never separated, except for this time, and somehow Big Boy didn’t make it back in the truck when we took off. The four children in the back could see Big Boy following as fast as he could, but he got farther and farther behind until they couldn’t see him anymore. Verl was crying so hard that Dahrl and Roy Jr. climbed over the furniture to get our attention, but we couldn’t hear their cries for us to stop. They all cried themselves to sleep, and when we got to Barstow we found the whole family heartbroken. Since we didn’t have enough money to buy gas for a trip back, Roi left me and the children in a park in Barstow and he hitch-hiked back to the station where we had left Big Boy. Roi found him, and hitched another ride back to Barstow to have a happy reunion with the family.

Grocery Business

Living in California was a growing time for our family in many ways. When we first arrived, Roi ran his truck from Salt Lake City, back to Los Angles with produce, where we lived on 97th street. Then, hating to be away from his family so much, he decided to try the grocery business again. He went to work for Safeway, and I worked with him as a clerk, until Dahrl graduated from High School.

We moved two more times in Los Angeles on 64th and 59th streets. Then we had a big decision to make as far as our future was concerned. We had a good secure job with Safeway when some men from the East approached Roi with a new concept for markets—open front markets staying open for 24 hours. He was making $35 a week as a manager for Safeway and these men offered him $50 a week. With a fairly young family to still support he was hesitant to venture into something that might ONLY work. I told him that I would keep my $15 a week job until we could see how things went. I told him that opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime, and even though Safeway offered him a supervisor position to stay, I felt he should take this one. So with his friend, Warner Clark, the first ranch market in California opened with the name of “Clarks Ranch Market” located in Venice. It was an instant success and we moved our family from Los Angles to Santa Monica, a beach town next to Venice.

Roberts Market Grand Opening. Dorothy Lillywhite Noorlander is behind the counter.

A man named Roberts who owned just liquor stores, then bought “Clarks” and soon opened many more under the name of “Roberts Markets.” The markets turned out to be very successful and it was a good opportunity for our family to advance economically. While living in Santa Monica we started to build a home in Inglewood on an acre of ground so Roi could have horses. Dahrl was already married at this time, then Roy Jr. married also, but the three other children graduated from Inglewood High School. I became very ill during this time and required many transfusions. I took a long time to get better, along with a housekeeper the children helped take care of the responsibilities of our home.

After a few years, Mr. Roberts decided to sell the markets and Thrifty Mart bought them from him, with the understanding that Roi would come as part of the deal. He was made General Manager. We sold our Inglewood home and moved to Angeles Vista St., in La Mert Park. We also bought a ranch in Chino, where Roy Jr. worked and lived with his family. Roi then retired to the ranch at age 54 and raised cattle. He wasn’t happy being a rancher, after being in the business world so long.

He was very much in demand in the Grocery business, so he decided to go to work for Stater Brothers markets and worked for them for two years. After that time, he went as Vice President and General Manager for the Hughes Markets and was there for eleven years until he retired. Roi worked altogether in the grocery industry for 43 years, and was named “Man of the Year” in 1969 by all the grocery firms in California. He was hard working and very honest in all his dealings with people, and never made anyone feel that he was better than they were. He was loved and respected by all that knew him.

Retirement

Roi “retired again” at the age of 68, but was not retired very long, when Mr. Hughes asked him to come back to work, which he did for three more years. We sold our home in La Mert Park and moved to the ranch in Chino. We loved Chino and the ranch, and our grandchildren still talk of the fun times our family had in Chino over the years. Roi was the first Branch President in Chino and he always had time for his church work. I was the Era subscription director in Chino, and got the chance to practice the salesmanship I used when I was 17 and won a car. I had a quota of 47 subscriptions and sold 138, to members and nonmembers alike. This placed me in the category to receive the “Hall of Fame” award.

Hughes employee’s missed Roi so much, he went back as a $1 a year man, as an advisor at their monthly meetings. We sold the ranch, which is a dairy now, and moved to Sherman Oaks and closer to the markets. We missed all our dear friends in Chino so much, but each move brought with it new experiences not to be gained otherwise.

From Sherman Oaks, we moved to Covina and really retired this time, where we both held many different jobs in the church. Roi was Ward Clerk and he taught himself to type in order to help him with his work. He loved the young people and did all he could to help them, being very generous with the missionaries and their families. We were able to help our grandchildren go on missions, and all of our grandchildren that went to Brigham Young University. Roi passed away January 10, 1973. Before his death he went on two African Safaris, and we traveled all around the world and all through the United States, having many wonderful experiences. I am grateful for those opportunities we had to travel together. Roi had a firm testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and bore it often. He loved the Los Angeles Temple, and assisted at the veil from the year 1969 until he passed away. We attended Temples in England, Canada, Arizona, all the Temples in Utah, Switzerland, Hawaii and New Zealand.

Roi worked long hard hours to achieve the goals he set for himself and made it to the top in his business and in every aspect of his spiritual life. Roi was ordained an Elder by this father, Lewis Lillywhite, May 21, 1923 in Garland, Utah, and ordained a High Priest in Chino, August 18, 1956, by William Alexander. Roi had many people come to him, young and old, for advice.

I am writing this story of our life together, in Chino, where I came to live after his death.

Testimony

It is impossible to put down on paper all the experiences and feelings of life, both the sorrows and the joys which we shared. I am thankful, that through the gospel our lives do not come to an end, that we will always continue to grow. I want my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and all our posterity to know that only through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ may we truly be happy and have peace, as we journey through our mortal existence.

Verl Lillywhite, Eyvonne Rohner Lillywhite, Cleopha Lillywhite, and Roy Lillywhite Jr. standing in front of Roi’s crypt, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Covina Hills, California.

Verl Lillywhite, son of Roi and Cleo standing in front of their crypt, Forest Lawn Mortuary, Covina Hills, California.